Biomass conversion processes are known in the prior art. In general, their objective is to convert biomass, for example, wood, grain, manure, sugar cane bagasse, rice husks, corn stalks, and the like, into gas and liquid fuels, charcoal and other useful products with net energy gain and minimal production of unwanted by-products.
If let decompose by microbiological processes, the biomass will degrade into many other components, including carbon dioxide, organic oils and tars and create noxious emissions while doing so. Furthermore, the energy content of the biomass will be dissipated and go unharnessed. As an alternative to allowing biomass to decompose, it would be preferable if it could be efficiently converted into useful products such as industrial feedstock, with the inherent energy content realized.
Conversion of biomass through a pyrolysis process has been the subject of much investigation in the past with a variety of objectives, including production of synthetic gas and oil for industrial feedstock and power generation.
A common objective is to convert biomass to charcoal for use as fuel. Traditional methods have used individually loaded kilns employing a slow pyrolysis technique which suffers from slow rates of conversion and production of many unwanted pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and various tars.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a pyrolytic conversion assembly to convert waste biomass to a sufficiently pure form of charcoal that can be buried in the topsoil without detriment to the plant or microbiological life.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a biomass conversion process that is a net energy producer.